Cook Strait ferry ministerial advisory group paid $300,000, Winston Peters goes back to the drawing board

• $300,000 spent on the Cook Strait ferry Ministerial Advisory Group has been criticised as wasteful.
• The group recommended two medium-sized ships, but no contract has been signed.
• Minister for Rail Winston Peters is now trying to find a better option.

The $300,000 spent on a Cook Strait ferry Ministerial Advisory Group (Mag) has been labelled a waste of money, given a contract for new ships is yet to be signed and Winston Peters is going back to the drawing board.

The Mag was announced after the Government refused to give KiwiRail more money for its mega ferry project — leaving the plan to replace the ageing Interislander fleet dead in the water. Overall costs, including new terminals and wharf upgrades, had ballooned to almost $3 billion.

Following its investigation, the group recommended two medium-sized roll-on roll-off ships and that a new entity be established to procure them.

The Mag’s report was delivered to the Government in June and is yet to be officially publicly released.

Treasury has confirmed the group has been wrapped up. The final total remuneration cost was $300,567, excluding GST.

Former Nelson Airport chief executive Mark Thompson, who chaired the group, has a 30-year career in logistics and transport operations.

Member Mark Cairns also has extensive experience in these sectors and is currently a director of Freightways and Auckland International Airport. Member Roger Sowry is a professional director and former Cabinet minister with considerable governance expertise.

Minister for Rail Winston Peters has gained control of the future of the Interislander ferries, is the one responsible for delivering them and is going back to the drawing board. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The Government announced last week a new company was being set up to procure the recommended ships and alternative private sector proposals would be assessed alongside this process in March.

However, it was also revealed Peters is the new Minister for Rail, and is in charge of the ferry project and he’s going back to the drawing board to try to find a better option.

A spokesman for Peters said the Mag was tasked by Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Minister for State-Owned Enterprises Paul Goldsmith to do work on replacing the ferries.

“The Mag completed that work, and it will be taken into account along with other options being explored.”

Labour Transport spokesman Tangi Utikere said: “Considering Nicola Willis failed to deliver anything other than a longer wait for more expensive ferries, I would say this is an extremely wasteful spend”.

Green Party transport spokeswoman Julie Anne Genter said it was a debacle.

“It was unbelievably reckless and irresponsible for Nicola Willis to force the cancellation of the ferries that were already on order, without having done the work to ensure there was a viable alternative.

“Three hundred thousand dollars seems a lot for an advisory group that hasn’t resulted in a contract for new ferries.”

But she said this was a tiny sum compared to the overall cost of cancelling the mega ferries, which is yet to be confirmed.

Goldsmith has previously been asked whether the cost of the Mag was a good use of taxpayer money.

“It’s critical the Government receives independent expert advice on how we can ensure there are robust plans in place to support safe, resilient and reliable ferry services into the future,” he said.

Georgina Campbell is a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.